Odysseus and Polyphemus by Arnold Böcklin
{Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons}
This week it’s all about the Ancient Greek epic poet, Homer. While there is debate about whether or not Homer was a real man who single-handedly wrote The Iliad and The Odyssey, or whether these works are the result of many contributors, let’s take a look at these two works as well as what we can find out about Homer himself.
VIDEOS:
Homer and the Gods | The Greeks – A 7-minute PBS documentary about the discovery of some of the earliest evidence of Homer’s tales.
Homer | Author Biography – Here’s a nice, quick bio about Homer:
Troy Story: The Iliad – A quick, animated summary:
Trojan War – A short video from the History Channel:
The Iliad by Homer | Characters – This channel, Course Hero, has many videos about The Iliad and The Odyssey. They are nice for review (after you’ve read the actual story, or to help understand what’s going on:
Truth of Troy: Trojan War Story – This series of short segments make up a documentary that tells about archaeologists' efforts to discover facts that support the legend of the Trojan War. Here’s the list of each video in the series. Here’s the first video:
Troy Story: The Odyssey – Here’s part 2 of one of the above videos:
The Odyssey by Homer | Characters:
Here’s a list of several other videos on these two works by Homer, made by Course Hero, which include plot summaries, themes, symbols, and more.
Mythic Warriors: Adventure of Odysseus – This is a somewhat dated animated film about the adventures of Odysseus (Ulysses), but kids might enjoy this after they’ve read the story:
The science behind the myth: Homer’s “Odyssey” – This TED-Ed video claims there’s more to this myth than many realize:
Clash of the Gods, Odysseus Part 1 – This full-length History Channel documentary series is probably not for young children. There are 10 parts in this series in all, with 2 parts about Odysseus:
Here’s Odysseus Part 2.
The Odyssey Miniseries – (1997, NR) Available to purchase on Amazon.
WEBSITES:
Greek Names Pronunciation Guide for Black Ships Before Troy – Press the play button (an annoying screen may show up, just click the X in the upper right corner to make it go away). This is nice to have!
Who was Homer? Also check out more about the Trojan War, including a nice timeline.
The Greek Alphabet and Language – Learn about the Greek alphabet and how it influenced ours. You can also try writing in Greek.
Heroes of Troy – This is BBC’s Learning School Radio website, which puts the story of the Trojan War to music. This won’t be for everyone… it’s a little cheesy, but if your kids like to learn songs about what they are reading, check it out.
Storynory has a series of audio recordings for kids, based on The Iliad and The Odyssey, as well as other Greek myths:
- Helen of Troy
- Troy
- The Wooden Horse
- In the Cyclops Cave
- Circe the Beautiful Witch
- The Homecoming of Odysseus
How to Draw a Trojan Horse – A free art lessons from Draw and Write through History.
What could the real Trojan ‘horse’ look like? – From PBS, see models of what the real Trojan horse may have looked like.
Archaeological Site of Troy – See what it looks like today.
Map of The Odyssey – As seen in Lisa Ann Dillon’s parent training presentation. This (or another map) is great to have on hand while reading the book.
Artwork inspired by The Odyssey – Also seen in Lisa Ann’s presentation.
Infographic for The Odyssey – This is a nice chart featuring an overview, themes, and characters. More information about the story can be found on this site as well.
Odyssey Comix – We haven't read through all of these to check the content, but someone has created a graphic novel version of the Odyssey and it appears to be all online.
